Governors’ Forum crisis: Not a fine moment for Nigerian character

The photograph on the front page of this newspaper yesterday spoke volumes. It showed Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State addressing the press on a dreary night in Abuja. But it was obvious he was emotionally drained. He had endured more than one week of intense jockeying for relevance in the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), with some of his colleagues intriguing ruthlessly for his post, or at least trying to get him off his perch. Behind him, almost behind his ears, was Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, the man who continues to menace Amaechi and haunt his shadows so much that it must take extraordinary nerves for both gentlemen to stand in the same room. In the photograph, however, Akpabio displays unearthly calmness, with a mechanical grin trying to break on his face.

Also in the photograph, and behind Amaechi to the right, was Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, a man who has managed by the force of his eloquence and the strength of his conviction to carve some political and national relevance. He has stood rock-solid behind Amaechi, even as the Rivers governor is buffeted by enemies. In the same photograph, Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State, stood distractingly beside Amaechi. The governors were all emerging from a meeting in which some 16 of them attempted to unhorse Amaechi from the NGF chairmanship. The coup failed, and the battle has been postponed till May. Earlier, however, President Goodluck Jonathan had corralled a few governors led by Akpabio to form the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum. To cut to the chase, everyone knows, in spite of Akpabio’s doublespeak, that the new Forum is designed to balkanise the NGF for spurning Jonathan’s cajolery and blandishments.

There are many issues surrounding the NGF that discomfit the public, such as its unconstitutional overbearingness. But beyond all those issues, however, and even beyond the reasons that precipitated the presidential conspiracy against the Forum, is the disturbing impression a few of the governors have given to the world of their character. It is doubtful whether Amaechi would have attracted so much opposition and earned the intense enmity of the presidency had he been more restrained, less candid as a politician, more reflective as a person, and disarmingly more diplomatic. But he can at least take solace in the fact that with all his impetuousness, he is not shifty and his conscience is not for hire. Rivers may find his NGF politics a distraction, and even wonder whether they elected him to engage in interminable political jousting, but they will shrug their shoulders and say, well, he can call his soul his own, if nothing else.

So far, nothing substantially untoward has been done by the pro-Jonathan group other than their engaging puerility. The group is doubtless entitled to pursue its own interests and fight its enemies, whether real or phantom. But by offering himself as head of the Jonathan army, and for a crusade of such enormous dubiousness, Akpabio managed to give the impression he is for hire, and his conscience as elastic as they come. Recall that in the photograph briefly analysed above, Hardball said he detected a forced grin on the Akwa Ibom governor’s face. Well, that kind of painful expression often indicates unbearable turbulence in the heart of a man full of both surrender and betrayal. Akwa Ibomites will revel in their appreciation of Akpabio’s great developmental projects, for the man is hardworking and focused, and take pride in his eloquence, for he is also a gifted public speaker with confident gait. But it is doubtful whether they would not marvel at how cheaply their governor had lent himself to be used by Jonathan, and also wonder whether it is always the case that brilliance must be compromised by lack of character.